The Real Deal

Materials: Glass Fibre

Glass fibre comes in several forms but the most common are chop strand matt (CSM) and woven cloth. This material is used by virtually every bodywork company in the UK as it is cheap and easy to use with a wet-lay method. This process is basically applying polyester resin to the material using a brush, and is incredibly crude. Resin amounts can vary from laminator to laminator, as can the amount in individual areas of the component. Some areas will have different amounts of resin to others. In worst case scenarios, some areas may have up to five times more resin than others.

The problem with glass fibre when it is used in this wet-lay manner is that it requires a large amount of resin in order for it to be effective. Typically, CSM requires 2.5 times its own weight in resin to wet it out: 1kg CSM glass fibre needs 2.5kg resin. This adds an extraordinary amount of weight to the component, especially when you consider the additional kilo’s of gel-coat on the surface as well.

Whilst we produce bodywork in fibreglass, we do not use CSM or woven cloth. We buy pre-pregnated glass fibres that have had resin applied using computer technology to ensure perfect weight to fibre ratio. The glass uses epoxy resin as with all our parts, and therefore requires no gel-coat. Not only are our glass fibre kits the strongest in the UK, they are also the lightest – expect your bellypans to weigh about 500grams, seats 600grams and top fairings 800grams! These weights are achieved using autoclaved processes and resin controlled levels of less than half the weight of the fibreglass: 1kg pre-preg glass fibre uses less than 0.5kg resin.

Weigh your current kits and compare. We pride ourselves on manufacturing the strongest and lightest kits in Europe.

Carbon Kevlar

This material has very good abrasive qualities. The Kevlar provides additional strength to the carbon and helps to keep the component together in a crash. Some bodywork manufacturers use carbon Kevlar to reinforce mounting points on their glass fibre kits. This is because continual use of dzus clips can damage standard glass fibre mounting points. The reason why these bodywork manufacturers don’t use carbon Kevlar all over the interior of kits is because of the expense and difficulty to produce components with this material using wet-lay up methods.

At 666 all of our carbon fibre kits are backed up with carbon Kevlar throughout. At the mounting points we use several layers to ensure perfect use and fit time and time again.

Carbon Fibre

Firstly, and most importantly, not all carbon fibre is equal. The very best is used in high end structural components such as those used in Formula 1 chassis and Aerospace applications. These carbon fibres are ridiculously expensive, and far too advanced for the purpose of motorcycle bodywork. The components are made by curing the epoxy resins in the carbon fibre under temperature and very high pressures. All the carbon fibre they use is pre-pregnated with epoxy resin across it. This is done using computer based machinery that applies a thin coat of resin to the dry carbon fibre material under weight. The amount of resin that is applied is accurately measured so that an exact resin percentage per metre of material is calculated. This allows exact weights and properties of final components to be gauged. No components in these high-end industries are made using polyester resins or wet-lay up methods!

You will see a lot of very inferior carbon fibre products on auction sites and from motorcycle retailers. Nearly every component imported from the Far East is wet-lay up polyester. The very sad thing about these cheap versions is that they are often not 100% carbon fibre, and are usually backed up with cheap fibreglass using black dyed resin. The consumer doesn’t see it too easily, and the component gets sold as cheap carbon fibre on the internet to unknowing buyers. Another trick is to have one thin layer on the surface under a gel-coat, backed up with incredibly cheap and crude chop strand matt, and then put a final thin carbon fibre layer on the back. The consumer thinks its solid carbon fibre, and would not be able to find out without cracking the component in halve.

At 666, we use the same pre-pregnated epoxy resin fibres as used in Formula 1 bodywork, MotoGP and World Superbike applications. In fact, we supply to several WSB teams now! We also produce our components under temperature and very high pressures in a system called an Autoclave, exactly as used in the most advanced facilities across Europe and the World. All of our processes from mould production to component creation are done using the exact same methods as used in Formula 1 and Aerospace. That’s why as a consumer, you know you are getting the very best in terms of product quality - The lightest, strongest, sexiest bodywork in Europe. That’s why the very best teams from around the World use our kits! They know how important it is to not only look good for the sponsors, but to perform at the very highest level.

If you thought our glass fibre pre-preg range was light, you should feel our carbon fibre!





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